Now we know

Now we know-the hard way-that canning vegetables in the hot water bath is risky and an expensive waste of time, energy and green beans. "I told you so." She said, "that's the way my mother always did it." Thus, she lost 17 qts. of green beans, time and money. The only really "safe" vegetable to process in the hot water canning bath is the tomato because of it's acidity. I use a pressure cooker for all other veggies. I know lots of people still use the hot water bath, but why run the risk of botulism, mold or food poisoning? Yet, she is doing it again this year. Maybe I am too careful or paranoid about canning and processing garden produce, but think of this; Your garden lives and thrives in...dirt and every thing else that loves dirt. Microbes, bacteria, chemicals, natural and man made, enjoy the soil that nurtures your garden plants that nurture you. Even that nasty little bug Anthrax can be found in the dirt in a natural soil of garden dirt. So, why take the chance of canning the old fashioned way of a hot water bath just because our mothers did it 60 and seventy years ago. Guess what...she has a pressure cooker/canner! I really didn't say "I told you so," but I did try to get her to preserve with a pressure cooker/canner. As she said, "this is the way my mother did it."

Right now I have a large pot of cooked beets on the stove waiting to be skinned and canned. I didn't get it done because friends came with a load of eggs that I needed to run over to the nursing home right away because of the heat and humidity. They didn't need to be sitting out too long and become rotten eggs. I beat the storm going, but the storm caught up with me just as I was coming back It was a real gully washer. I pulled into the Dunkin' Donut parking lot to wait it out. Some young people didn't, their car stalled out in the water, and probably their power steering went out too, because they hit the curb with a pretty good jolt. They all ran across the street and sought shelter on an insurance agency's porch. They were good and wet, drenched, soaked to the gills and then some. Other people pulled in behind me to wait out the worst of the storm. I would rather be cautious than stuck out in a gully washer like that. At least we got rain. I got home later than I expected and that is why I didn't get the beets done. I will get at them tomorrow.

END